Buzzing In The Blizzard At The Search Insider Summit

Last week was the 14thSearch Insider Summit. This semiannual gathering of search geeks in ski town is always
full of hot topics and cold weather -- but this time, we outdid ourselves on all fronts.

In his opening remarks, MediaPost chairman Ken Fadner announced that this SIS was the
biggest yet in terms of attendees and sponsors. But, as emcee Rob Griffin reminded us, it’s not size that matters but how you
use it.

Indeed, the number of participants was directly proportionate to the number of topics covered. In short, we went long. As fresh powder capped the hills (and
iced the sidewalks), the conversations (and conversants) were sent sprawling.

To commemorate the biggest SIS to date, I give you the biggest Buzz-o-Meter to date – a
full top 20 list of the buzzwords dropped like they were hot in Park City.

But first, let’s take a look back at the Buzzword Bingo results from the past 12 shows to put
last week’s buzz in context.

Data – big data, small data, blue(kai) data, green(plum) data… data was poppin’ everywhere at SIS. Throughout the show, folks like Heather Dougherty from Hitwise, Eli Goodman from comScore, and
Rich Stokes from AdGooroo showed us how a little data can go a long way.

Intent - as you can tell by the wide range of buzzwords dropped at SIS over the
years, the scope of this event creeps well beyond search. At the root of search is consumer intent, which has made search the most popular and profitable online media channel for marketers. But how
can marketers get more of the good stuff and scale intent? As intended, many of the sessions dove into this question with answers ranging from dynamic landing page optimization to whether or not you’re wearing shorts while playing Xbox.

Google - ever omnipresent,
the Big G was most definitely in the house at SIS. And while folks fawned all over Google’s every move, there was quite a bit of floral, too.

Yahoo - not sure if we were all just being polite to one of the
headline sponsors (lord knows that hasn’t stopped us in the past) or if it’s the fact that they’ve put the sizzle
(reel) back in search, but Yahoo(!) was mentioned in almost every
breath, as Google was.

Bing - the new branding must be paying off, as nary a Yahoo was yodeled without
a Bing backbeat. YBN? Why be not? Just don’t call it a search engine. Or an app. Per Duane Forrester, Bing is a “service.” Ring
any bells?

Mobile - more and more search activity is being mobilized. So more and more of the conversation is being spent on how marketers can mobilize their search efforts. From device
targeting to bespoke landing pages, the call for custom mobile campaigns was loud and clear.

Content, Creative (tie) - Forrester’s Joanna
O’Connell led a panel on the “Everlasting Importance of the Creative” -- which reminded us that the art and science (more on those buzzwords later) of storytelling is paramount to
the picture. Just don’t pirate it… arrrrr!

Context - not to be outdone,
context emerged as a critical piece of, well, context when placing content and creative.

Retargeting - this topic boomeranged back to the forefront every couple of sessions. Sometimes we were just horsing around, though.